Gold never gets old for PBC at MatNats

Not a crab during warm ups, not a broken clam before the start of a race, not a whipping wind or searing heat … nothing. Nothing Oklahoma threw at our guys would keep them from bringing back a boatload of medals and trophies from Master National Rowing Championships held last weekend in Oklahoma City.

Out of 18 events contested by PBC’s Men’s Sweep Team, it medaled in all but one, earning 14 Gold, one Silver, two Bronze, a hard fought fourth, and earning the overall Men’s Points Trophy. PBC president Bob Price pulled a “Camilla Durfee,” bringing home gold in all six events he raced.

As if that weren’t enough, the men set a couple of records to boot. They clocked the fastest time of the regatta with a 00:02:38 in the Men’s C8+. It was also the fastest time ever at a Masters Nationals, a record set previously set by our Men’s B8+ in 2005.

Speaking about the team’s incredible performance, Coach Marco Bovo said, “This success shows the depth we have on this team. Now, if we only had time to practice a little in the sculling boats, we’d be unstoppable!”

[Wait.  Read that, again, for us.  No "slow" or "fat" in that entire quote, right? Holy smokes, guys! You just got a compliment from Marco.  Another one for the trophy list!]

Other notable PBC performances include a gold in the W F1x (J. Gardner), silver in the M D1x (P. Pietra), gold in the M LWT D1x (J. Paduda), bronze in the M LWT G1x (B. Cox), and gold in the HWT G4x (Composite) … in all, our independent PBC racers added seven golds, one silver and a bronze to the medal count.

Congratulations on a great Masters Nationals, PBC!

And a special thanks to Nick Holland and Steve Vermillion for sending daily updates to the Star.  Much, much appreciated.

To see more photos from the medals stand, visit the USRowing Flickr set. For all the results, click here.